The remberg XRM software is the heart of our company. Through constant adjustments, improvements and further developments, we ensure that we provide our customers with the right tool to become digital champions.
But how does agile product development work in the age of SaaS? How does remberg make sure to implement the right functionalities? And how do we handle customer feedback?
What is Software-as-a-Service (SaaS)?
According to the dictionary it is a web based software, often distributed as a subscription and using cloud computing. Users can therefore access applications via the internet instead of installing them locally. This is made possible by the service provider (e.g. remberg) which supplies the necessary IT infrastructure, maintenance and updates of the application.
What are advantages and disadvantages of Software-as-a-service (SaaS)?
Advantages of obtaining software via SaaS include:
- The most prominent advantage is cost saving, which is caused by avoiding high one time license fees and the need for maintenance efforts.
- Further important advantages are the quick setup, uncomplicated accessibility and high flexibility. There is no need for installation and the application is usable directly after the registration is completed. Due to the software being web based, you only need a web browser (e.g. firefox or chrome) and an internet connection to get started. Changing requirements, for example capacity and performance can be implemented swiftly.
- Moreover you profit from constant improvements and updates of the software. The responsibility and risk of flawless usage fully lie with the service provider.
- To ensure high security for processed data, many SaaS providers (including remberg) orient themselves on the European General Data Protection Regulation (EU-GDPR) as well as common standards and guidelines such as ISO/IEC 27001 and the BSI IT-Grundschutz-Compendium.
Through the responsibility and trust you place in the SaaS provider, it is crucial to carefully assess if the service provider is the right fit for your company. On top of that, every aspect of the service should be stipulated in a contract. Finally, it should be clear that a SaaS solution is a standardized product, even if some parts can be customized individually. How we at remberg still develop a suitable product for our customers will be covered in the following.
How does remberg work in software development and how do we make decisions?
At remberg we use the so-called “Dual-Track Agile” method to make decisions regarding the product development and to incorporate our customers. The “dual” idea is rather simple: There are two parallel paths in product development working collaboratively – the Discovery Track and the Delivery Track. In the Discovery Track, feedback of customers is processed, evaluated and translated into possible product ideas. This helps us understand which customer problem should be solved and how much value this adds. By outlining new functionalities, we better the user experience and validate technical feasibility. The Delivery Track is used to turn the prepared ideas with the highest added value into final product functionalities. This way usability, relevance and concrete user feedback go hand in hand with agile development processes and efficiency.
How does your feedback enter the Discovery Track at remberg?
Product feedback by customers plays a central role in the Discovery Track: The feedback is passed directly from your individual contact person to the product team. They then evaluate individual requirements with a distinct evaluation method – major factors are the expected added value and the frequency of requests (from the whole customer base). The overall product strategy and vision, as well as available capacities in the product and engineering teams further influence a possible implementation.
The goal of the remberg product team is to fully understand the received feedback in the Discovery Track: What is the underlying problem? Who gives this feedback and what difficulties do they face? Which user-need should the software please to entail maximum satisfaction? Only if all of these questions are answered, we can work on the solution. This guarantees a product development that matches the needs of our customers.
In order to gain a complete understanding of the problem, we prefer to include customers in the Discovery Track. This way customers can give us feedback at early development stages of new functionalities which ensures that the problem is really solved.
With this procedure, we have built a product management process focused on efficiency and effectiveness which incorporates different stakeholders and enables data driven decisions. An important realization is that customers profit from each other with this system: Through feedback of one customer group, product ideas will be realized that are advantageous for other customers as well – this sets us apart from software agencies and system houses which only offer individual solutions for special customers or use cases without being scalable and reproducible.
Therefore the Discovery Track results in customer validated, usability and feasibility proven product functionalities giving a significant added value to the whole customer base, as well as build on remberg’s product strategy and vision: Help companies become digital champions.
How does remberg execute the Delivery Track?
The validated product ideas are realized in the Delivery Track. Using the customer experiences from the Discovery Track, the engineering team can be assured that they develop functionalities that are truly meaningful to our customers. The feature realization is done in multi-week development sprints, so time frames in which a predefined number of product ideas and their related development steps are worked on.
This is how we use our capacities in a targeted and efficient way – also, because usually there already exist (non functional) prototypes of said product functionalities.
What does this mean for you?
- You receive a standardized software, configurable to your needs.
- We cannot guarantee a direct implementation of your requests, as we involve our whole customer base in the product development process.
- There can be a time lag between the reception of your feedback and its realization, due to the work in the Discovery Track and the different development cycles. This, however, also means that the added functionalities are proven and tested by multiple parties.
- The solution we provide you is up to date and relatively cost effective. The danger of outdated software, which equals a competitive disadvantage, is minimized.
Summary
In short, the advantages of Software-as-a-service heavily outweigh the disadvantages of individual solutions. It is not for nothing that SaaS increasingly dominates the software industry.
Regardless or maybe even because of the “dual” product development process and the recurring release cycles, we can provide fast and targeted product improvements based on the cumulated feedback of different stakeholders.
Do you want to become a digital champion as well and influence our product development with your feedback? We are looking forward to your contribution and a productive collaboration!
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